


All Your Stalks in One Basket

by carpfish



Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: ChikaIta Week 2020, Constructive Criticism Welcome, Crack Treated Seriously, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Gen or Pre-Slash, M/M, Not Beta Read
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:40:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25722238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carpfish/pseuds/carpfish
Summary: Itaru has entrusted Chikage with something precious, and Chikage doesn't intend to betray that trust.He'll do whatever it takes to help Itaru turn a profit on the stalk market.Written for Day 2 of #ChikaItaWeek2020: Home/Family/Trust
Relationships: Chigasaki Itaru/Utsuki Chikage
Comments: 10
Kudos: 69
Collections: ChikaIta Week 2020





	All Your Stalks in One Basket

**Author's Note:**

> This took me a ridiculously short amount of time to write, probably because it needed no research at all lmao

It’s a Friday morning when Chigasaki springs awake in bed thirty minutes past his fifth (and last) alarm, immediately bashes his head on the ceiling and begins swearing up a storm. He continues to swear as he tumbles down the loft bed ladder and begins to dress himself in a whirlwind, culminating in a blood-curdling screech when he rolls over his own toe with his computer chair. Chikage doesn't flinch as he steadily loops his tie into a half-Windsor, immune to the chaos going on behind him. He'd tried to wake Chigasaki up when the first alarm had rang, but the man had just rolled over and stuffed his face into a pillow, and Chikage hadn't been bothered to expend any more effort on it- he's spent enough time dealing with sleeping chumps for a lifetime. Chigasaki would wake up on his own in due time, he'd figured, and lo and behold, he was correct.

Chigasaki somehow manages to style his hair out of its rat's nest bed head, squeeze himself into the exoskeleton of a business suit, and choke himself with his tie all in record time of under ten minutes. Which is impressive, considering that he usually moves quite sluggishly in the mornings, dragging himself from bed to the baths for his morning shower, then loitering on the couch while grinding morning SP before finally making himself presentable for work. As he pats himself down for keys, wallet, phone, charger, he frantically mutters something about daisies and islands and root vegetable prices. Ah, Chikage thinks as he languidly shrugs on his favorite grey suit jacket, out of his collection of grey suit jackets. Must be something about that Animal Forest game that Chigasaki has been obsessed with for the past few months. 

"Senpai!" Chigasaki has broken out of his rambling. "You're meeting with clients out of office this morning, right?"

Chikage nods in affirmation. He and Chigasaki will be going their separate paths today, so there's no way he can bum a carpool from Chikage. Strangely enough, this seems to be good news for Chigasaki, his eyes growing wide and hopeful. 

"So you're starting a bit later than usual, right?" Chikage nods again. "Great, that means you'll have five minutes to do me a favor!" 

Before Chikage can ask what the favor is or shoot it down entirely, Chigasaki shoves a rectangular protective case into his hands, the one containing his precious Nintendo Switch. So it was something game related after all. 

"Could you turn on Animal Crossing and help me sell my turnips in the shop? It shouldn't take too long, any time before noon is fine. The predictive site says that my Friday am prices should spike this week, so I can't miss out! If you need any help, Citron will know what to do, you can ask him. Thanks senpai!" And with that, he's tripping his way out of the room, heels stepping on the back of his Oxfords as he sprints towards the garage. 

Chikage stands there, listening for Chigasaki's thundering footsteps disappearing down the hallway just to make sure he doesn't trip on his laces and kill himself on the way. When all is silent enough that if Chigasaki has died then he's at least done it out of earshot, Chikage finally unzips the protective case and inspects the Switch he's been entrusted with. It's not the first time he's held a Switch- Taichi, Citron, and Kumon own them as well and multi-player games like Mario Kart or Smash Bros make frequent appearances during Mankai wrap parties. There's also other video game consoles that Mankai members occasionally share, like Muku's PS Vita that he lends out when recommending visual novels, or Banri's XBox One that sometimes makes its way into the living room. Not to mention Chikage is already quite familiar with every console under the sun that makes its home in Chigasaki's garbage pile half of Room 103, and knows how to permanently delete the data from each one of them, just in case.

This, however, is Chigasaki's _limited edition Animal Crossing special edition Nintendo Switch_ , which Chigasaki had raced to preorder weeks in advance and woke up at 6am on a weekend just so he could line up for hours before the shop had opened just to pick it up. It's practically Chigasaki's baby, with its lovingly illustrated port, specially colored joycons, and the faint patterns of islands, waves, and boats printed on the backside. Chikage doesn't particularly care about the value of the console beyond what he can resell it for on Yahoo auctions, but he knows it's got to be precious on a sentimental value as well because Citron has complained that Itaru won't let even _him_ touch it. Yet Chigasaki's now left it, and the fate of his island, in the hands of his game-hating, no-romance, cheat-code senpai.

Chikage shuts down that train of thought before it begins. There's no way he's allowing himself that sort of emotion, let alone over one of Chigasaki's dumb games. Instead, he takes a seat on the couch, presses the button on the top of the Switch, and watches the screen flicker to life between the pastel-colored controllers on each side. It's true that he's got some extra time this morning, and he's already finished all the prep work for his client meetings, so he might as well get this virtual chore that his roommate's saddled him with over and done with. 

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the most recent game played, so it's not difficult for Chikage to click into it from the home screen. Immediately, the game starts up with the glinting opening strums of ukulele and muted trumpet melody that Chikage's come to know so well from hearing in the background, but suddenly sounds much less irritating when Chigasaki isn't the one playing it. It's not bad, as far as video game music goes, but Chikage doesn't stick around to listen to the whole theme, clicking through the title screen to enter Chigasaki's island. 

The scene fades in before him with an idyllic strum of acoustic guitar, before the music transitions to a kitschy, high-pitched bubblegum pop tune that sounds a lot more like what Chikage associates with Chigasaki’s games. But rather than the sweeping fantasy open-worlds or pixelated spaceships that Chigasaki’s virtual adventures usually take place in, Chikage finds himself appearing in a normal-looking room. In fact, it looks a bit too normal, because this room appears to be an uncannily faithful mimicry of the Room 103 that Chikage is sitting in right now. Everything from the ratty couch in the center, the loft beds up against the wall, to the scattered documents flung about the floor on Chigasaki’s side of the room. The player character that Chikage controls is a rounder, smaller, much less noisy doppelganger of his gamer roommate himself, down to the ridiculous yellow-orange tiger jersey. Chikage finds himself torn between derision and endearment. This in-game rendition of Chigasaki’s living conditions may be cuter and less odious than real life, but what’s the point of Chigasaki playing these games if he’s just going to replicate the things that already exist around him?

Chikage spends a few minutes reading up game instructions on the internet and wandering around the room to gain his bearings, before exiting out the door behind him that hopefully leads to the outside. He’s correct, and the image on screen transitions to the kind of languid tropical island environment that the game is better known for. Chigasaki has spent an inane amount of time on this game since it came out, so Chikage assumes the colorful paths of varying brick and stone, as well as the flowers, fruit trees, and fountains placed all around are of his own doing. 

Without any particular rush before his morning meeting, Chikage spends the better part of ten minutes snooping around Chigasaki’s island, running up inclines and across bridges and surveying the layout of his roommate’s virtual domain. The outside decor is surprisingly tasteful, for someone with Chigasaki’s sense of aesthetics, with not a single big-breasted anime figure in sight. It would be too far to say that Chikage actively _enjoys_ the game, but just from this brief demo, he can already understand its popular commercial appeal. Especially when a peppy-looking squirrel with cherry red fur dashes up to give him a gift, or when he passes by a cranky blue wolf with blond highlights nodding its head sternly next to a record player. 

The entire game gives off a very different feel from the tense PVP shooters or anime png gambling simulators that Chigasaki usually wastes his time on. It even feels different from _Kniroun_ , with its award-winning storyline and character-based drama that Chikage hadn’t completely hated. From its bright, sunny graphics to the breezy bossa guitar and sunken bongo drum beats, Chikage can recognize the low-pressure, cheerful hominess of the game, even when it doesn’t resemble any idea of home that he’s ever had himself. 

Chikage doesn’t make a habit of paying too much attention to Chigasaki and what he does on his little gadgets, but now that he’s playing for himself, it’s all too easy to imagine him whiling away the hours puttering about this cozy tropical island with its friendly animal neighbours and non-threatening daily chores. He can picture Chigasaki fishing by the waterfalls, digging holes to plant his peaches, shaking down trees for extra cash, and showering the suspiciously Sakuya-like squirrel with deluges of expensive gifts. It’s exactly the kind of thing that Chigasaki would like to brainlessly enjoy after the slog of another long work day. Now if only he were so diligent in the upkeep of his own three-dimensional spaces. 

It’s only when he wanders past the blue-roofed general store of Nook’s Cranny that Chikage finds that he’s completely lost sight of the mission, and there’s only fifteen minutes left before he has to leave to meet his first client of the day. He checks his inventory and realizes with a grimace that Chigasaki had never told him where to find these turnips he was supposed to sell. Judging by the prices given to him by a little hawaiian-shirted raccoon, however, Chigasaki had miscalculated his stalk trends, and the price for this morning’s turnips are pitifully low. If he were to sell the turnips at these rates, he doubts that Chigasaki would be able to break even on his original investment. 

Chikage pauses a moment, and looks at the time. Then he temporarily sets the Switch gentle on the couch beside him, flips open his laptop, and starts to type. Fourteen minutes left- that should be more than enough. 

\----

Friday nights are Taruchi streaming nights, so after Spring Troupe’s evening rehearsal, Chikage takes a shower and makes himself comfortable with his laptop in the dorm lounge until his roommate emerges from his cave to give him clearance to enter. There aren’t any particularly pressing tasks that demand his attention, so he allows himself to mingle with the other dorm inhabitants. He asks Tsumugi about the cafe he and Banri plan to visit tomorrow, and teases Azami about a mildly provocative ad in his latest makeup magazine until Sakyo casts him an amusingly threatening look. 

And it would be a lie to say he wasn’t listening out for it, but when a muffled yelp of shock comes from the direction of Room 103, Chikage hears it loud and clear. 

“ _20 million bells? Holy_ shit! _”_

Chikage smiles to himself, and makes a mental note to bully Chigasaki into cleaning up his scattered documents this weekend. 

**Author's Note:**

> _Ckit week fic writers: day 2, trust. Time to unveil all of these two men's issues. Chikage is afraid of a home, Itaru doesn't want to be hurt, everything could end any day but they'll stay for one another_   
>  _My brain: itaru asks Chikage to help sell his AC turnips_
> 
> This idea possessed me at 7am and I just busted it out immediately. I need everyone to know that the working title was "ACNH Trumpet noises) BAH BAH BAH BUH BAAAH BUH BAAAH BUH BAAAAAAAH". 
> 
> I'm aware that the title of the game differs in Japanese version, but I thought I'd use the English title for ease of comprehension since this fic is in English after all.


End file.
